Ferrari team principal Vasseur on the World Championship battle: the standings can change quickly

Following the Formula 1 race weekend in Singapore, one thing is clear: Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has his first chance to clinch the Drivers’ Championship title in Austin. As for the teams, however, the situation appears increasingly up in the air. With six races still to go (provided the season finale can take place as planned in Qatar and Abu Dhabi), the standings are as follows: Mercedes are top with 578 points, followed by Ferrari on 444, McLaren on 339 and Red Bull Racing on 332. A team can still score a maximum of 258 points. Mathematically, therefore, a lot is still possible.

Max Verstappen has now won two races in a row, and Red Bull Racing seems to have made huge strides with the car since the race in Baku. Mercedes, on the other hand, has recently struggled with an upgrade that has yet to deliver, whilst McLaren was once again grappling with internal team squabbles in Singapore. Are the Austrians now suddenly the team Ferrari must beat?

Ferrari team principal Vasseur: This is the situation

Scuderia team principal Fred Vasseur acknowledges the huge improvement in performance, but sees the situation at the top of Formula 1 as more complex. The Frenchman said: “To be honest, they’re doing very well, but they’re not the team we need to beat.” He emphasises the word “the”, meaning that Red Bull Racing is one of the teams we need to beat – but certainly not the only one.

Vasseur: “I think we have to measure ourselves against McLaren and Mercedes. If you look at the start of the season: Mercedes were outstanding at first, then we caught up, then McLaren caught up, then Red Bull caught up. I think that’s changing right now, because often four teams are within two tenths of each other. That means: if someone brings an upgrade next week, the standings could change. But the most important thing is to focus on ourselves and not think about the others.”

As far as their own team is concerned, there was plenty to discuss in Singapore. Lewis Hamilton fell off course for a podium finish because he decided not to come in for a tyre change under the virtual safety car and instead drove past the entrance to the pit lane – a mistake, as the Briton sheepishly admitted.

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